Ralph Johns

Ralph Johns, a store owner at the time of the sit-ins, is credited with encouraging the participants, and he is thought to have tipped off the press on the first day of the protest.

Born to Syrian immigrants in 1916, Johns was a bit player in the movies during the 1930s. He settled in Greensboro in 1944 after he was discharged from the Army Air Corps. He opened his clothing store on East Market Street, which attracted many A&T students as customers. He also hired black people as sales clerks, a practice that was unheard of in Greensboro at that time. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson worked there for a time while a student at A&T.

Johns was the first white person to join the local NAACP chapter. In 1966, he made the news after he offered to exchange himself for an American prisoner of war being held in North Vietnam. He later returned to California, where he died on Oct. 2, 1997.

Audio (MP3's)

George Simkins talks about Ralph Johns role(1:30)
Franklin Eugene McCain on Ralph Johns' involvement (:57)
Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair,Jr.) on Ralph Johns role in the sit-ins (1:17)
Joseph Alfred McNeil on Ralph Johns' involvement (:48)

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